JERSEY BOYS BUZZING AFTER FIRST WIN

Team Fox celebrated its maiden Powerboat P1 SuperStock Championship with victory at the Southampton Grand Prix of the Sea on Sunday.

Martin Colligan and Gideon du Val beat eight other powerboat teams to the title on the south coast yesterday to move to within 26-points of championship leaders, Grandstand Motor Sports, with one event to go.

The Channel Island racing duo claimed their inaugural P1 SuperStock trophy after they powered past the checkered flag in first place during race two on Sunday. It meant Colligan and Du Val edged out fellow Jersey powerboat pilot, Liam McDemott in Team Purple, into overall second place after the latter took the bragging rights in race one.

Colligan, who picked up an exclusive Maurice Lacroix Chronograph Valgranges timepiece worth £2,500 as well as the winning trophy, was delighted with his team’s performance.

“It was a magnificent team effort in Southampton. We recovered well from an incident at the first turn in race one where we lost our way and produced a fantastic display of teamwork in both races. Gideon’s navigation was outstanding and really kept us on a good racing line where we maintained excellent speed,” said Colligan.

Team Fox are one of the most competitive teams on the circuit and the pair’s ruthless performance on Southampton Water proves that qualities such as understanding your powerboat and having plenty of race experience are crucial to success. 

Du Val added: “It feels awesome to get our first win. We’ve been putting in the hours on the water and all are very thorough when it comes to our boat preparation, so the entire team is thrilled to be able to take the Southampton Grand Prix of the Sea trophy back home to Jersey.”

Liam McDemott, who has been on the fringes of driving for several teams in this year’s P1 SuperStock series, finished second for Team Purple in his first Grand Prix of the Sea behind the wheel. He said: “There’s going to be a lot of banter with our friends from Guernsey. They piloted for Team Purple in Penzance and didn’t get onto the podium, so I can’t wait to let them know that Jersey’s got one up on them.”